Printers are known for printing information on labels or the like wherein some of the information is fixed and never changes and other information such as date or price is variable. To generate a label, a bit map image of the information to be printed is created. Known printers treat all information which can change as variable information even if the information changes infrequently. Each time a label is printed or any variable information is entered into the printer, the bit map image of all of the variable information is recreated even though some of the variable information remains the same from label to label. This is inefficient. Further, printers typically include full alphanumeric keyboards or keypads for entering data and commands. Such keyboards are costly and require space. In applications where it is desirable to minimize the size of the printer, such keyboards are undesirable.